Natalie Warne: Being young and making an impact

Born in an underserved part of downtown Chicago, Natalie and her five siblings had to survive on her mother's humble teacher salary, moving from city to city to find work. No stranger to adversity, Natalie was determined to make something great out of her life.
.At 17, Natalie saw the documentary Invisible Children: The Rough Cut, a film exposing Africa's longest running war. Compelled by this story, she applied to be a volunteer or "roadie" for Invisible Children, using her voice to help end this war.

At 18, Natalie Warne’s work with the Invisible Children movement made her a hero for young activists. At TEDxTeen she uses her inspiring story to remind us that no one is too young to change the world.

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Invisible Children: WHO WE ARE

March 19, 2009 A quick overview of the work of Invisible Children, Inc. over the last two years.

We were awarded a congressional award for our documentary and grassroots movement. Since the documentary Invisible Children: Rough Cut was released, the plight of children in northern Uganda has become more visible.

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UGANDA TODAY

Since Invisible Children: Rough Cut was filmed in 2003, night commuting has ended for the children

of northern Uganda. In recent years peace was seemingly within reach, largely due to the Juba Peace

Talks. From June 2006 to March 2008 in Juba, Sudan, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the

Government of Uganda (GoU) engaged in a series of peace talks in order to end the conflict. These

peace talks, supported by special envoys from the United States and other nations, allowed for the longest

period of peace in northern Uganda’s 23-year war. The Juba Peace Talks developed with hope for a lasting

resolution, and concluded in March of 2008 with the Final Peace Agreement (FPA) ready for the signature

of Joseph Kony and President Museveni. However, in April of 2008, Kony twice failed to appear and sign the

FPA and officially ended the Juba talks mediated by the Southern Sudanese government. Joseph Kony’s

stated reasons for not signing the FPA were a vague understanding of the treaty’s systems regarding

post-conflict justice and an apprehension toward ICC warrants for him and four other LRA leaders.

Since the collapse of the peace talks, the LRA has been active in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),

Central African Republic (CAR) and southern Sudan, drawing widespread disapproval from the international

community and igniting a new urgency to end what has become a complex regional conflict.In the last two years,

an estimated 900,000 of the 1.8 million displaced have returned to their homes. But that leaves one million

people currently living in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. While the majority desires to return

home, the issues surrounding their return are complex. Some have been displaced for more than a decade, and

their former way of life is all but gone. Access to clean water, economic opportunities, health centers, and

education are a pressing concern for all, and even more so for the many who contemplate returning to

resource-barren villages.

A HISTORY OF AFRICA’S LONGEST RUNNING WAR

The war in northern Uganda has been called the most neglected humanitarian emergency in the world

today. For the past 23 years, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda (GoU)

have been waging a war that has left nearly two million innocent civilians caught in the middle. The GoU's

attempt to protect its citizens from this rebel militia has largely failed, resulting in an entire generation

of youth that has never known peace. The LRA rebel movement can be traced back to a woman named

Alice Lakwena. In the 1980s,

Lakwena believed the Holy Spirit spoke to her and ordered her to overthrow the Ugandan government for

being unjust to the Acholi. Lakwena and her followers, known as the Holy Spirit Movement, gained

momentum as resentment toward the government increased. When Lakwena was exiled and no clear leader

of the movementwas left, Joseph Kony, who claimed to be Lakwena’s cousin, took control and transformed

Lakwena’s rebel army into the LRA. Kony's LRA did not receive the same support as the Holy Spirit

Movement from the Acholi people. With dwindling approval for their cause and heightened government

offensives, the rebels resorted to abducting children and indoctrinating them into their ranks. It is estimated

that more than 90% of the LRA’s troops were abducted as children. In 1996, as a response to the LRA attacks

in the villages, the Ugandan government forcibly evicted thousands from their homes, relocating them into

overcrowded camps in hopes of providing protection. But over a decade later, roughly one million individuals

still live in these camps and struggle to survive among the effects of abject poverty, rampant disease, and

near-certain starvation. In recent years moreand more international attention has been focused on this crisis.

In 2001, the US Patriot Act officially declared the LRA to be a terrorist organization - a huge step in drawing

attention to the conflict and the atrocities committed by the LRA. In 2004, Congress passed the Northern

Uganda Crisis Response Act, the first piece of American legislation to address this disaster. And in 2005,

the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Joseph Kony and four of his top

commanders. Pressure from the international community (particularly from EU and Canada) combined with

a strong desire to secure peace has brought the Government of Uganda and the LRA to thenegotiating table

on numerous occasions, though they have yet to find a peaceful resolution. The most recent talks commenced

in Juba, Sudan in July 2006, and a Cessation of Hostilities Agreement was signed the following month. In

July 2007, in response to an increased concern for peace in northern Uganda by the American people, the

US State Department appointed Tim Shortley to Senior Advisor for Conflict Resolution with his immediate

focus on northern Uganda. This action solidified the US’s commitment to end this conflict peacefully. That

same year, the United Kingdom bolstered their commitment to peace by allocating £70 million in aid, while

Germany committed to a 25% increase in aid to Uganda by October 2010. Canada later became more than an

international supporter of the peace process in February 2008 by joining the peace talks as an official

observer (though the Canadian officer on the ground has since been removed from the region). At this

point in time, the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement has expired and Joseph Kony has failed to sign the

Final Peace Agreement for a fourth time, proving his promises to be futile and ultimately disabling the peace

talks. Uncertainty lingers, not only for the thousands displaced in northern Uganda but across the entire

northeastern border region of DR Congo, South Sudan, and Central African Republic. Since September 2008,

hostility in the Orientale province in DR Congo and Western Equatoria in South Sudan has reached a feverish

pitch. LRA attacks have become more frequent and hostile, provoking military action against the rebel group.

In an unprecedented joint military operation, the governments of Uganda, DR Congo, South Sudan and the

Central African Republic launched an attack on LRA strongholds within DR Congo. “Operation Lightning

Thunder”, the name designated for the counteroffensive, was largely unsuccessful in light of both the failure to

reach top LRA leadership and the onslaught of violence that followed. One month later on December 24th, 2008,

the LRA launched a retaliatory attack against the people of DR Congo. In apparent desperation and a renewed

will to spread terror to DR Congo, the LRA murdered over six hundred and abducted more than one hundred

and sixty children to fight amongst its ranks. More than 104,000 Congolese have been displaced since

Christmas in attempts to escape the LRA forces. As the motives of the LRA become more ambiguous and

their crimes more horrific, Invisible Children remains committed to seeking sustainable solutions to foster

an environment that encourages peace. We are supporting and equipping a generation ravaged by war so that

they can finally know peace. Invisible Children addresses the need for access to education and economic

development through innovative programs on the ground.

Other Ways To Help

DONATE
Support the expansion of our Early Warning Radio Network, and the other
projects in Invisible Children's Protection Plan.
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HOST A PARTY
Ignite your fundraising efforts by hosting a screening to share our documentary
"Tony" with your friends.
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